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Kuala Lumpur - Taste of Xinjiang at Ming Ren (名人), Genting Highlands

One clarification here: Genting Highlands, renowned in Malaysia/Singapore for nearly half a century for its casino-resort, is technically *not* in Kuala Lumpur, but rather a 1-hour's drive into the highlands of the neighbouring state of Pahang. But this premier gambling capital of Malaysia even shares the same IDD code as Kuala Lumpur, rather than its home state of Pahang, and its main clientele are the denizens of KL, functioning much like Macau does for Hongkongers.

Confession: Though I'm about the same age as the casino-resort itself, and lived in Singapore, only 1 hour's flight from KL, I'd actually *never* been to Genting Highlands before (despite having been to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo and even Macau).

So, it was rather exciting when 3 of my KL friends suggested that we traipse up to Genting Highlands yesterday evening to check out the much talked-about Ming Ren (名人) Restaurant, one of the few spots in town which offered Xinjiang cuisine.

Genting Highlands has a collection of 5 hotels (the largest, One World Hotel, has more than 6,000 rooms!) and a largish collection of eateries - though many appear to be fast-food outlets or casual snack-bars. I think Ming Ren (名人) is one of the top three Chinese restaurants up there, together with top-dog Genting Palace (Cantonese) and Good Friends (Hakka) restaurants.

Dessert:- Special Xinjiang Almond & Pistachio Ice Cream with Minced Lamb: perhaps one of the more unusual desserts I've tried, and reminiscent of Turkish dessert "tavuk göğsü" where the sweet pudding included chicken-meat. This Xinjiang cold dessert has an almond-pistachio ice-cream with minced lamb-meat incorporated in it, though I hardly discern the savoury component. The cube of ice-cream sat on a layer of mashed pumpkin, which lent a sweet dimension to the salty dessert. Crisp, slivered almonds on top provided a nice textural contrast.